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Aloha man arrested after dog-fighting incident

Washington County sheriff's deputies arrested an Aloha man on Tuesday who was apparently angry about a neighbor's dog attacking his pooch.

Deputies arrested Joseph Romaine, 77, without incident and seized his black .22-caliber pistol, which his neighbor said he used to threaten her and her dog.

Romaine was transported to the Washington County Jail and lodged on an accusation of menacing, said Sgt. David Thompson, spokesman for the sheriff's office.

Deputies were called to the 17800 block of Southwest Bryan Way in Aloha after a 46-year-old woman called 911. She said Romaine, her neighbor, threatened to kill her and her dog while holding a pistol in his hand.

Romaine was walking his two dogs down the street, when the victim's dog reportedly ran from her house and began fighting with Romaine's dogs, said the victim and another witness. The victim was able to call her dog away from the fight. Romaine's dogs were on leashes, so they also disengaged from the fight. Romaine continued on to his house, Thompson reported.

A few minutes later, the victim said, Romaine appeared outside her house without his dogs, holding a black semi-automatic pistol in his hand. While holding the pistol in front him, pointed at the ground, Romaine threatened to kill the woman and her dog. After a brief period, Romaine returned to his house.

Deputies arrived a short time later and arrested Romaine, who chose not to talk to them about the incident, Thompson said.

Washington County Animal Control responded to the scene and determined no violations had occurred on the part of the victim.